6 ms·

Ask HN: What interesting people are you following on Mastodon?

190 points by null4bl3 4y ago

So far I really like the fediverse, but I am really missing some cross server follow suggestions. I was hoping someone here had some good suggestions on who to follow?

ThinkingGuy 4y ago
Brewster Kahle (Internet Archive) @brewsterkahle@mastodon.http://archive.org http://archive.org
etherpaul 4y ago
Vitalik Buterin
INTPenis 4y ago
https://social.growyourown.services/@FediFollows https://social.growyourown.services/@FediFollows https://mastodon.online/@streetartutopia https://mastodon.online/@streetartutopia https://spacelase.rs/@dekaminski https://spacelase.rs/@dekaminski https://infosec.exchange/@troyhunt https://infosec.exchange/@troyhunt https://a.gup.pe/u/histodons https://a.gup.pe/u/histodons # This is a group that boosts every post mentioning it. supposed to be history related but it can be abused of course. https://heath.social/@carl https://heath.social/@carl https://mstdn.social/@simonegiertz https://mstdn.social/@simonegiertz https://mastodon.social/@elonjet https://mastodon.social/@elonjet https://mastodon.social/@Popehat https://mastodon.social/@Popehat https://fosstodon.org/@PINE64 https://fosstodon.org/@PINE64 https://hachyderm.io/@nova https://hachyderm.io/@nova # Imho the best fediverse admin. https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs https://infosec.exchange/@cisacyber https://infosec.exchange/@cisacyber https://mastodon.social/@oatmeal https://mastodon.social/@oatmeal https://wandering.shop/@cstross https://wandering.shop/@cstross https://mastodon.world/@JeriLRyan https://mastodon.world/@JeriLRyan https://bitbang.social/@NanoRaptor https://bitbang.social/@NanoRaptor https://universeodon.com/@georgetakei https://universeodon.com/@georgetakei https://njalla.social/@njalla https://njalla.social/@njalla https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff https://atomicpoet.org/users/atomicpoet https://atomicpoet.org/users/atomicpoet https://social.data.coop/@cryptohagen https://social.data.coop/@cryptohagen https://mastodon.archive.org/@internetarchive https://mastodon.archive.org/@internetarchive https://mastodonapp.uk/@aliceroberts https://mastodonapp.uk/@aliceroberts https://mastodon.social/@neilhimself https://mastodon.social/@neilhimself https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry https://mastodon.nu/@gretathunberg https://mastodon.nu/@gretathunberg https://m.brokep.com/@peter https://m.brokep.com/@peter https://mstdn.social/@kathygriffin https://mstdn.social/@kathygriffin https://mastodonapp.uk/@zsk https://mastodonapp.uk/@zsk https://social.coop/@dajb https://social.coop/@dajb https://social.network.europa.eu/@EUSPA https://social.network.europa.eu/@EUSPA # Just a twitter relay so far https://bsd.network/@solene https://bsd.network/@solene https://merveilles.town/@neauoire https://merveilles.town/@neauoire https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral
ragebol 4y ago
@simonstalenhag@mastodon.art Great Sci-fi art @fasterthanlime@octodon.social Hacker @tlalexander@queer.party Working on open source farming robots @fchollet@sigmoid.social Deep learning stuff, creator of Keras
- TaylorAlexander 4y ago
  Hey that’s me! Thanks for the shout out.
louismerlin 4y ago
https://mastodon.social/@Gargron https://mastodon.social/@Gargron https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs https://infosec.exchange/@troyhunt https://infosec.exchange/@troyhunt https://cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog https://cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog https://infosec.exchange/@malwaretech https://infosec.exchange/@malwaretech https://infosec.exchange/@hacks4pancakes https://infosec.exchange/@hacks4pancakes https://infosec.exchange/@tinker https://infosec.exchange/@tinker https://merveilles.town/@neauoire https://merveilles.town/@neauoire
randomcarbloke 4y ago
Terry Tao and Zack Weinersmith
proactivesvcs 4y ago
The people who post to hashtags that I'm interested in, mostly. Try searching for your interests and you'll get cross-server results that should help you build up a network of people from other servers.
ttrrooppeerr 4y ago
The, one and only, Ron Gilbert: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grumpygamer https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grumpygamer
tgv 4y ago
Yeah, let's repeat twitter, but with an even less controlled messaging system. That'll go well.
- INTPenis 4y ago
  Clearly troll bait, but I just wanna say that no one is repeating twitter. This is decentralized. Even if corporations move in and create their own instances it will still remain decentralized. Even if it splinters into pockets of federation, it will still be more of a public domain than twitter ever was, being owned by one corporation.
  - tgv 4y ago
    With all the dangers of disinformation and "echo chambers", but a bit bigger. And what for? So more people can feel they have followers and spend time cultivating that?
    - 4ad 4y ago
      Yes, let's all stay in the existing disinformation echo chambers. If you see disinformation and find yourself in an echo chamber on a platform where you can chose who you see and engage with, I am afraid it's not the platform's fault.
      - tgv 4y ago
        If you get cancer from smoking, it's not the tobacco's industry's fault. If you get shot in a classroom, it's not the gun seller's fault.
        4ad 4y ago
        ...yes? that's the point.
        tgv 4y ago
        The libertarian's point of view?
jakelazaroff 4y ago
Anil Dash https://me.dm/@anildash https://me.dm/@anildash Julia Evans https://social.jvns.ca/@b0rk https://social.jvns.ca/@b0rk Simon Willison https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon Steve Ruiz https://mas.to/@steveruizok https://mas.to/@steveruizok Molly White https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff Mekka Okereke https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke
4ad 4y ago
Please don't just post a bunch of links! Try to give a short introduction or explanation on why that person is interesting or otherwise worthy of following. @breakingtaps@universeodon.com: electron microscopy images and hobbyist nano-scale maker and tinkerer. Has a youtube channel. @gregeganSF@mathstodon.xyz: the science fiction author, mostly posts about math. @danluu@mastodon.social: tech writer/blogger, his articles often make HN's top page. @johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz: famous physicist, posts about math. @TechConnectify@mas.to: whimsical and eclectic youtuber, thorough explainer of things like dishwashers, toasters, and LEDs. @TomDuff@mastodon.social: inventor of Duff's device, posts about music and pen plots. @robpike@hachyderm.io: inventor of Plan 9 and Go. @aram@mastodon.sdf.org: don't follow this guy! Also mathstodon.xyz, math-oriented mastodon instance.
ninethirty 4y ago
Kind of reminds me of the early days of the web, you have a feeling there's good websites out there, but there's no established mechanism to find them.
- etrautmann 4y ago
  Yep, which is exactly what makes it exciting an awesome too. Lots of people experimenting and no centralization of dominant ideas. it’d be cool if mastadon stays more like the early web
- Daviey 4y ago
  Has this problem been fixed?
  - fatneckbeard 4y ago
    what if it's not a problem. what if it's a feature?
  - sneak 4y ago
    I started building a fediverse spider and search engine but the death threats and toxicity made me decide to work on other stuff.
    - ipaddr 4y ago
      Sounds like you are on to a billion dollar idea. Push on..
josefresco 4y ago
Just wanted to share a tool (Chrome extension), that has made following people on Mastodon much easier. Mastodon View Profile: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mastodon-profile-redirect/limifnkopacddgpihodacjeckfkpbfoe https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mastodon-profile-r... Basically you click to view someone's profile, then click this extension's button in your toolbar and it will take you to YOUR instance, where you can follow that person with just one click (no copy+paste+search)
- lapcat 4y ago
  From looking at the source on Github, it appears that this extension attempts to work with simple string rearrangement AFAICT. Unfortunately, this approach doesn't generalize, as I discovered myself while attempting to build a similar extension. It will work in many cases, but it will also fail in other cases. It's not universal. The only reliable method is to use the search field on your instance, or to directly query the Mastodon API.
  - josefresco 4y ago
    Good feedback. I've used the button now around 60 times. The times when it "failed" were typically related to a temporary outage of the instance, or rate limiting. For example I used this thread to follow about a dozen new people, and eventually was blocked by "rate limiting".
    - lapcat 4y ago
      The issue I'm talking about isn't about rate limiting, it's about user name and server name mapping. Take one example below: https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon This does not map to https://myserver/@simon@fedi.simonwillison.net https://myserver/@simon@fedi.simonwillison.net but rather https://myserver/@simon@simonwillison.net https://myserver/@simon@simonwillison.net
  - mg 4y ago
    This simple code works for me: let your_instance="masto.ai"; document.location=( "https://" + your_instance + "/authorize_interaction?uri=" + encodeURIComponent(document.location) ) Before you turn it into a bookmarklet, set your_instance to the Mastodon instance you use. You can use my bookmarklet editor to turn it into a bookmarklet: https://www.gibney.org/bookmarklet_editor https://www.gibney.org/bookmarklet_editor
fattybob 4y ago
I feel that everyone should follow God on mastodon - quite refreshing!
mcv 4y ago
Until recently, I most of my stream was politics, and I was missing the gamer crowd I used to hang with on Google+. Turns out they're all on dice.camp, and now that I found them, my stream is happy again. So I'm mostly following a lot of RPG designers, but a few non-RPG-related names are: Cory Doctorow (super interesting of course), Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry (sometimes receives a lot of pointless responses, which makes it frustrating to engage) and George Takei (always receives a lot of pointless comments; I'd like to be able to hide other people's comments from his posts, because it's all noise). Of course not everybody I'm following is on Mastodon. I'm not even on Mastodon. The Fediverse is a lot bigger than that.
barathr 4y ago
@futurebird@sauropods.win -- science, math, entomology @librarianshipwreck@mastodon.social -- pithy critiques, cats @nomdeb@mstdn.social -- history and other random things @OkieSpaceQueen@scicomm.xyz -- science communications, conspiracy deconstruction @tprophet@defcon.social -- writer at 2600 @kjhealy@mastodon.social -- pithy sociologist @notjustbikes@notjustbikes.com -- urban planning @enron@tilde.zone -- hacks and snark @HelenBranswell@scicomm.xyz -- infectious disease reporting @Jessicascott09@infosec.exchange -- misc infosec @harshad@sharma.io -- farming in india
weinzierl 4y ago
In no particular order within the respective sections. No BS, down to earth infosec folks Filippo Valsorda - https://abyssdomain.expert/@filippo https://abyssdomain.expert/@filippo Marcus Hutchins - https://infosec.exchange/@malwaretech https://infosec.exchange/@malwaretech Tavis Ormandy - https://social.sdf.org/@taviso https://social.sdf.org/@taviso Royce Williams - https://mastodon.social/@tychotithonus https://mastodon.social/@tychotithonus The Grugq - https://infosec.exchange/@thegrugq https://infosec.exchange/@thegrugq Alex Bloor - https://bloor.tw/@bloor https://bloor.tw/@bloor Andrew Tierney - https://infosec.exchange/@cybergibbons https://infosec.exchange/@cybergibbons The usual Rust crowd Mara Bos - https://hachyderm.io/@Mara https://hachyderm.io/@Mara Aaron Turon - https://hachyderm.io/@aturon https://hachyderm.io/@aturon Luca Palmieri - https://hachyderm.io/@algo_luca https://hachyderm.io/@algo_luca Tim McNamara - https://mastodon.nz/@timClicks https://mastodon.nz/@timClicks Raph Levien - https://mastodon.online/@raph https://mastodon.online/@raph Game Dev Ólafur Waage - https://mastodon.social/@olafurw https://mastodon.social/@olafurw Godot Engine - https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@godotengine https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@godotengine Celebrities (Stephen was one of the first people I followed on Twitter, so it is a tradition. The others are canaries.) Stephen Fry - https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry Kathy Griffin - https://mstdn.social/@kathygriffin https://mstdn.social/@kathygriffin Greta Thunberg - https://mastodon.nu/@gretathunberg https://mastodon.nu/@gretathunberg Honorable mention Dan Luu - https://mastodon.social/@danluu https://mastodon.social/@danluu
stjohnswarts 4y ago
Maybe just list your top 4 or 5 and a brief summary why you like them would be more helpful than just dropping a long list of people.
beej71 4y ago
I know this is asking about people, but following hashtags are where it's at. And it's a great way to find people, besides. Here's mine, for example, a giveaway cross section of my interests... #linux #unix #weather #bendoregon #orwx #railroad #history #caving #caves #seti #train #motorcycle #bicycle #openstreetmap #osm #amtrak #railfan #nasa #usgs #hacking #computerscience #math #programmerhumor (some real groaners) #astrophotography #astronomy #rustlang #space #science #programming And then mute people whose stuff you don't want to see. As for people, I follow my friends and: @openstreetmap@en.osm.town @royalastrosoc@astrodon.social @stephenfry@mastodonapp.uk @georgetakei@universeodon.com @archlinux@fedi.lynnesbian.space @nasa@mstdn.social (I think this is unofficial) @sdf@sdf.org
- safety1st 4y ago
  Tags are the way, the whole ethos of federation is about not being a sheep who needs to participate in some self-important global cult of personality to feel like they matter. Just follow your interests.
  - PaulBGD_ 4y ago
    I wish there was an easier way to keep on with tags on more instances though, following users I don't have to worry about that.
  - Ensorceled 4y ago
    I ... follow writers and gamers I like on Twitter.
  - TheAtomic 4y ago
    Masto newbie here, how do you follow hashtags?
    - AlexCoventry 4y ago
      In the standard web client, search for the hash tag (including the initial `#`) in the "Search or paste URL" form in the top-left corner. Hash tags matching your search will appear just below that form. Click on one you want to follow. A column of toots with that hash tag will appear. At the top of the column on the right-hand side is a small person icon with a "+" in it. Click on that, and you will be following that tag. Seems like there ought to be a simpler way. I just kind of stumbled into this approach.
oldmapgallery 4y ago
Mastodon has been the social media experience we've been hoping to someday find. Much more content rich than twitter, and discussions that go somewhere interesting. There are too many bright people on Mastodon, and it's wonderful... just a few... Rob Carlson (author of "Biology is Technology...") @rob_carlson@mastodon.world George Dyson (great for history of science posts) @gdyson@sciencemastodon.com Rudy Rucker (mathematician, author, artist) @rudytheelder@sfba.social Alberto Cairo (data visualization - infographics) @albertocairo@mastodon.social James Gleick (author of "Chaos", "Genius", etc.) @JamesGleick@zirk.us Anne-Sophie Pereira De Sá (data visualization) @wonderveilleuze@vis.social Maggie Koerth (Senior science writer at @FiveThirtyEight ) @maggiek@sciencemastodon.com Vicky Veritas (Geologist, GISMS Earth science, kind person that gets people connected) @vickyveritas@c.im this is barely scratching the surface.
OscarCunningham 4y ago
Here are some of the more notable mathematicians from Mathstodon. John Baez (https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez) Vi Hart (https://mathstodon.xyz/@vihart@mastodon.social https://mathstodon.xyz/@vihart@mastodon.social) Greg Egan (https://mathstodon.xyz/@gregeganSF https://mathstodon.xyz/@gregeganSF) Katie Steckles (https://mathstodon.xyz/@stecks https://mathstodon.xyz/@stecks) Marcus du Sautoy (https://mathstodon.xyz/@MarcusduSautoy https://mathstodon.xyz/@MarcusduSautoy) Eugenia Cheng (https://mathstodon.xyz/@DrEugeniaCheng https://mathstodon.xyz/@DrEugeniaCheng) Terry Tao (https://mathstodon.xyz/@tao https://mathstodon.xyz/@tao) Tim Gowers (https://mathstodon.xyz/@wtgowers https://mathstodon.xyz/@wtgowers) Matt Parker (https://mathstodon.xyz/@standupmaths https://mathstodon.xyz/@standupmaths) (Me) (https://mathstodon.xyz/@OscarCunningham https://mathstodon.xyz/@OscarCunningham)
Tomte 4y ago
Richard McElreath of Statistical Rethinking: @rlmcelreath@nerdculture.de
waynesutton 4y ago
There's an Observable notebook on this topic too who-to-follow-on-mastodon https://observablehq.com/@mauforonda/who-to-follow-on-mastodon?collection=@observablehq/mastodon-visualizations https://observablehq.com/@mauforonda/who-to-follow-on-mastod...
bhoops 4y ago
For folks from India, these are some random India specific accounts which toot frequently: @tendstofortytwo@tech.lgbt @rashi@mas.to @chenthil@mastodon.social @sridala@mastodon.social @anniezaidi@mastodon.social @sharanyamanivannan@mastodon.social @vaditi@india.goonj.xyz @Calamur@mastodon.social @nixxin@mstdn.social @rahulbhatia@mastodon.social @nilanjanaroy@mastodon.social @hackiechan@mastodon.social @nikita32@india.goonj.xyz
thebiglebrewski 4y ago
Has anyone written a Chrome extension yet to take the username/server combinations of the top posted names and make them easy to click links? Like I can't click: "Rob Carlson (author of "Biology is Technology...") @rob_carlson@mastodon.world"
- TaylorAlexander 4y ago
  hello I found it for you https://github.com/masrly/mastodon-link https://github.com/masrly/mastodon-link
  - thebiglebrewski 4y ago
    Thank you so much! I found it initially didn't work but once I put in my instance in the extension settings, it worked great. Awesome find.
SecurityMinded 4y ago
Absolutely nobody. I refuse to play in some capricious individual's walled garden. After Elon's acquisition, twitter became good enough for me.
- kgwxd 4y ago
  But... Nevermind.
goldforever 4y ago
[dead]
t0bia_s 4y ago
Nobody. I'm not interested in social media at all.
themusicgod1 4y ago
https://shitposter.club/users/nousnaut https://shitposter.club/users/nousnaut / @nousnaut@shitposter.club
anotherevan 4y ago
https://mastodon.social/@PragmaticAndy https://mastodon.social/@PragmaticAndy - Andy Hunt, co-author of The Pragmatic Programmer among other endeavours. Also tends to boost interesting or funny stuff. https://mastodon.social/@jonoxer https://mastodon.social/@jonoxer - Jon is an awesome bloke in Melbourne, Australia who is really in to electronics and home automation. https://theblower.au/@cathywilcox https://theblower.au/@cathywilcox - Australian political cartoonist. If you followed on Twitter, follow here instead. https://blackrock.city/@spolsky https://blackrock.city/@spolsky - Joel Spolsky. If you followed on Twitter, follow here instead. https://mastodon.matrix.org/@matrix https://mastodon.matrix.org/@matrix - Matrix, Element, etc. https://mastodon.social/@oatmeal https://mastodon.social/@oatmeal - Because he is a funny bugger.

190 points by null4bl3 4y ago

So far I really like the fediverse, but I am really missing some cross server follow suggestions. I was hoping someone here had some good suggestions on who to follow?

ThinkingGuy 4y ago

Brewster Kahle (Internet Archive) @brewsterkahle@mastodon.http://archive.org http://archive.org

etherpaul 4y ago

Vitalik Buterin

INTPenis 4y ago

https://social.growyourown.services/@FediFollows https://social.growyourown.services/@FediFollows https://mastodon.online/@streetartutopia https://mastodon.online/@streetartutopia https://spacelase.rs/@dekaminski https://spacelase.rs/@dekaminski https://infosec.exchange/@troyhunt https://infosec.exchange/@troyhunt https://a.gup.pe/u/histodons https://a.gup.pe/u/histodons # This is a group that boosts every post mentioning it. supposed to be history related but it can be abused of course. https://heath.social/@carl https://heath.social/@carl https://mstdn.social/@simonegiertz https://mstdn.social/@simonegiertz https://mastodon.social/@elonjet https://mastodon.social/@elonjet https://mastodon.social/@Popehat https://mastodon.social/@Popehat https://fosstodon.org/@PINE64 https://fosstodon.org/@PINE64 https://hachyderm.io/@nova https://hachyderm.io/@nova # Imho the best fediverse admin. https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs https://infosec.exchange/@cisacyber https://infosec.exchange/@cisacyber https://mastodon.social/@oatmeal https://mastodon.social/@oatmeal https://wandering.shop/@cstross https://wandering.shop/@cstross https://mastodon.world/@JeriLRyan https://mastodon.world/@JeriLRyan https://bitbang.social/@NanoRaptor https://bitbang.social/@NanoRaptor https://universeodon.com/@georgetakei https://universeodon.com/@georgetakei https://njalla.social/@njalla https://njalla.social/@njalla https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff https://atomicpoet.org/users/atomicpoet https://atomicpoet.org/users/atomicpoet https://social.data.coop/@cryptohagen https://social.data.coop/@cryptohagen https://mastodon.archive.org/@internetarchive https://mastodon.archive.org/@internetarchive https://mastodonapp.uk/@aliceroberts https://mastodonapp.uk/@aliceroberts https://mastodon.social/@neilhimself https://mastodon.social/@neilhimself https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry https://mastodon.nu/@gretathunberg https://mastodon.nu/@gretathunberg https://m.brokep.com/@peter https://m.brokep.com/@peter https://mstdn.social/@kathygriffin https://mstdn.social/@kathygriffin https://mastodonapp.uk/@zsk https://mastodonapp.uk/@zsk https://social.coop/@dajb https://social.coop/@dajb https://social.network.europa.eu/@EUSPA https://social.network.europa.eu/@EUSPA # Just a twitter relay so far https://bsd.network/@solene https://bsd.network/@solene https://merveilles.town/@neauoire https://merveilles.town/@neauoire https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral

ragebol 4y ago

@simonstalenhag@mastodon.art Great Sci-fi art @fasterthanlime@octodon.social Hacker @tlalexander@queer.party Working on open source farming robots @fchollet@sigmoid.social Deep learning stuff, creator of Keras

TaylorAlexander 4y ago
Hey that’s me! Thanks for the shout out.

louismerlin 4y ago

https://mastodon.social/@Gargron https://mastodon.social/@Gargron https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs https://infosec.exchange/@troyhunt https://infosec.exchange/@troyhunt https://cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog https://cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog https://infosec.exchange/@malwaretech https://infosec.exchange/@malwaretech https://infosec.exchange/@hacks4pancakes https://infosec.exchange/@hacks4pancakes https://infosec.exchange/@tinker https://infosec.exchange/@tinker https://merveilles.town/@neauoire https://merveilles.town/@neauoire

randomcarbloke 4y ago

Terry Tao and Zack Weinersmith

proactivesvcs 4y ago

The people who post to hashtags that I'm interested in, mostly. Try searching for your interests and you'll get cross-server results that should help you build up a network of people from other servers.

ttrrooppeerr 4y ago

The, one and only, Ron Gilbert: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grumpygamer https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grumpygamer

tgv 4y ago

Yeah, let's repeat twitter, but with an even less controlled messaging system. That'll go well.

INTPenis 4y ago
Clearly troll bait, but I just wanna say that no one is repeating twitter. This is decentralized. Even if corporations move in and create their own instances it will still remain decentralized. Even if it splinters into pockets of federation, it will still be more of a public domain than twitter ever was, being owned by one corporation.
- tgv 4y ago
  With all the dangers of disinformation and "echo chambers", but a bit bigger. And what for? So more people can feel they have followers and spend time cultivating that?
  - 4ad 4y ago
    Yes, let's all stay in the existing disinformation echo chambers. If you see disinformation and find yourself in an echo chamber on a platform where you can chose who you see and engage with, I am afraid it's not the platform's fault.
    - tgv 4y ago
      If you get cancer from smoking, it's not the tobacco's industry's fault. If you get shot in a classroom, it's not the gun seller's fault.
      - 4ad 4y ago
        ...yes? that's the point.
        tgv 4y ago
        The libertarian's point of view?

jakelazaroff 4y ago

Anil Dash https://me.dm/@anildash https://me.dm/@anildash Julia Evans https://social.jvns.ca/@b0rk https://social.jvns.ca/@b0rk Simon Willison https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon Steve Ruiz https://mas.to/@steveruizok https://mas.to/@steveruizok Molly White https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff Mekka Okereke https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke

4ad 4y ago

Please don't just post a bunch of links! Try to give a short introduction or explanation on why that person is interesting or otherwise worthy of following. @breakingtaps@universeodon.com: electron microscopy images and hobbyist nano-scale maker and tinkerer. Has a youtube channel. @gregeganSF@mathstodon.xyz: the science fiction author, mostly posts about math. @danluu@mastodon.social: tech writer/blogger, his articles often make HN's top page. @johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz: famous physicist, posts about math. @TechConnectify@mas.to: whimsical and eclectic youtuber, thorough explainer of things like dishwashers, toasters, and LEDs. @TomDuff@mastodon.social: inventor of Duff's device, posts about music and pen plots. @robpike@hachyderm.io: inventor of Plan 9 and Go. @aram@mastodon.sdf.org: don't follow this guy! Also mathstodon.xyz, math-oriented mastodon instance.

ninethirty 4y ago

Kind of reminds me of the early days of the web, you have a feeling there's good websites out there, but there's no established mechanism to find them.

etrautmann 4y ago
Yep, which is exactly what makes it exciting an awesome too. Lots of people experimenting and no centralization of dominant ideas. it’d be cool if mastadon stays more like the early web
Daviey 4y ago
Has this problem been fixed?
- fatneckbeard 4y ago
  what if it's not a problem. what if it's a feature?
- sneak 4y ago
  I started building a fediverse spider and search engine but the death threats and toxicity made me decide to work on other stuff.
  - ipaddr 4y ago
    Sounds like you are on to a billion dollar idea. Push on..

josefresco 4y ago

Just wanted to share a tool (Chrome extension), that has made following people on Mastodon much easier. Mastodon View Profile: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mastodon-profile-redirect/limifnkopacddgpihodacjeckfkpbfoe https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mastodon-profile-r... Basically you click to view someone's profile, then click this extension's button in your toolbar and it will take you to YOUR instance, where you can follow that person with just one click (no copy+paste+search)

lapcat 4y ago
From looking at the source on Github, it appears that this extension attempts to work with simple string rearrangement AFAICT. Unfortunately, this approach doesn't generalize, as I discovered myself while attempting to build a similar extension. It will work in many cases, but it will also fail in other cases. It's not universal. The only reliable method is to use the search field on your instance, or to directly query the Mastodon API.
- josefresco 4y ago
  Good feedback. I've used the button now around 60 times. The times when it "failed" were typically related to a temporary outage of the instance, or rate limiting. For example I used this thread to follow about a dozen new people, and eventually was blocked by "rate limiting".
  - lapcat 4y ago
    The issue I'm talking about isn't about rate limiting, it's about user name and server name mapping. Take one example below: https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon This does not map to https://myserver/@simon@fedi.simonwillison.net https://myserver/@simon@fedi.simonwillison.net but rather https://myserver/@simon@simonwillison.net https://myserver/@simon@simonwillison.net
- mg 4y ago
  This simple code works for me: let your_instance="masto.ai"; document.location=( "https://" + your_instance + "/authorize_interaction?uri=" + encodeURIComponent(document.location) ) Before you turn it into a bookmarklet, set your_instance to the Mastodon instance you use. You can use my bookmarklet editor to turn it into a bookmarklet: https://www.gibney.org/bookmarklet_editor https://www.gibney.org/bookmarklet_editor

fattybob 4y ago

I feel that everyone should follow God on mastodon - quite refreshing!

mcv 4y ago

Until recently, I most of my stream was politics, and I was missing the gamer crowd I used to hang with on Google+. Turns out they're all on dice.camp, and now that I found them, my stream is happy again. So I'm mostly following a lot of RPG designers, but a few non-RPG-related names are: Cory Doctorow (super interesting of course), Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry (sometimes receives a lot of pointless responses, which makes it frustrating to engage) and George Takei (always receives a lot of pointless comments; I'd like to be able to hide other people's comments from his posts, because it's all noise). Of course not everybody I'm following is on Mastodon. I'm not even on Mastodon. The Fediverse is a lot bigger than that.

barathr 4y ago

@futurebird@sauropods.win -- science, math, entomology @librarianshipwreck@mastodon.social -- pithy critiques, cats @nomdeb@mstdn.social -- history and other random things @OkieSpaceQueen@scicomm.xyz -- science communications, conspiracy deconstruction @tprophet@defcon.social -- writer at 2600 @kjhealy@mastodon.social -- pithy sociologist @notjustbikes@notjustbikes.com -- urban planning @enron@tilde.zone -- hacks and snark @HelenBranswell@scicomm.xyz -- infectious disease reporting @Jessicascott09@infosec.exchange -- misc infosec @harshad@sharma.io -- farming in india

weinzierl 4y ago

In no particular order within the respective sections. No BS, down to earth infosec folks Filippo Valsorda - https://abyssdomain.expert/@filippo https://abyssdomain.expert/@filippo Marcus Hutchins - https://infosec.exchange/@malwaretech https://infosec.exchange/@malwaretech Tavis Ormandy - https://social.sdf.org/@taviso https://social.sdf.org/@taviso Royce Williams - https://mastodon.social/@tychotithonus https://mastodon.social/@tychotithonus The Grugq - https://infosec.exchange/@thegrugq https://infosec.exchange/@thegrugq Alex Bloor - https://bloor.tw/@bloor https://bloor.tw/@bloor Andrew Tierney - https://infosec.exchange/@cybergibbons https://infosec.exchange/@cybergibbons The usual Rust crowd Mara Bos - https://hachyderm.io/@Mara https://hachyderm.io/@Mara Aaron Turon - https://hachyderm.io/@aturon https://hachyderm.io/@aturon Luca Palmieri - https://hachyderm.io/@algo_luca https://hachyderm.io/@algo_luca Tim McNamara - https://mastodon.nz/@timClicks https://mastodon.nz/@timClicks Raph Levien - https://mastodon.online/@raph https://mastodon.online/@raph Game Dev Ólafur Waage - https://mastodon.social/@olafurw https://mastodon.social/@olafurw Godot Engine - https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@godotengine https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@godotengine Celebrities (Stephen was one of the first people I followed on Twitter, so it is a tradition. The others are canaries.) Stephen Fry - https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry https://mastodonapp.uk/@stephenfry Kathy Griffin - https://mstdn.social/@kathygriffin https://mstdn.social/@kathygriffin Greta Thunberg - https://mastodon.nu/@gretathunberg https://mastodon.nu/@gretathunberg Honorable mention Dan Luu - https://mastodon.social/@danluu https://mastodon.social/@danluu

stjohnswarts 4y ago

Maybe just list your top 4 or 5 and a brief summary why you like them would be more helpful than just dropping a long list of people.

beej71 4y ago

I know this is asking about people, but following hashtags are where it's at. And it's a great way to find people, besides. Here's mine, for example, a giveaway cross section of my interests... #linux #unix #weather #bendoregon #orwx #railroad #history #caving #caves #seti #train #motorcycle #bicycle #openstreetmap #osm #amtrak #railfan #nasa #usgs #hacking #computerscience #math #programmerhumor (some real groaners) #astrophotography #astronomy #rustlang #space #science #programming And then mute people whose stuff you don't want to see. As for people, I follow my friends and: @openstreetmap@en.osm.town @royalastrosoc@astrodon.social @stephenfry@mastodonapp.uk @georgetakei@universeodon.com @archlinux@fedi.lynnesbian.space @nasa@mstdn.social (I think this is unofficial) @sdf@sdf.org

safety1st 4y ago
Tags are the way, the whole ethos of federation is about not being a sheep who needs to participate in some self-important global cult of personality to feel like they matter. Just follow your interests.
- PaulBGD_ 4y ago
  I wish there was an easier way to keep on with tags on more instances though, following users I don't have to worry about that.
- Ensorceled 4y ago
  I ... follow writers and gamers I like on Twitter.
- TheAtomic 4y ago
  Masto newbie here, how do you follow hashtags?
  - AlexCoventry 4y ago
    In the standard web client, search for the hash tag (including the initial `#`) in the "Search or paste URL" form in the top-left corner. Hash tags matching your search will appear just below that form. Click on one you want to follow. A column of toots with that hash tag will appear. At the top of the column on the right-hand side is a small person icon with a "+" in it. Click on that, and you will be following that tag. Seems like there ought to be a simpler way. I just kind of stumbled into this approach.

oldmapgallery 4y ago

Mastodon has been the social media experience we've been hoping to someday find. Much more content rich than twitter, and discussions that go somewhere interesting. There are too many bright people on Mastodon, and it's wonderful... just a few... Rob Carlson (author of "Biology is Technology...") @rob_carlson@mastodon.world George Dyson (great for history of science posts) @gdyson@sciencemastodon.com Rudy Rucker (mathematician, author, artist) @rudytheelder@sfba.social Alberto Cairo (data visualization - infographics) @albertocairo@mastodon.social James Gleick (author of "Chaos", "Genius", etc.) @JamesGleick@zirk.us Anne-Sophie Pereira De Sá (data visualization) @wonderveilleuze@vis.social Maggie Koerth (Senior science writer at @FiveThirtyEight ) @maggiek@sciencemastodon.com Vicky Veritas (Geologist, GISMS Earth science, kind person that gets people connected) @vickyveritas@c.im this is barely scratching the surface.

OscarCunningham 4y ago

Here are some of the more notable mathematicians from Mathstodon. John Baez (https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez) Vi Hart (https://mathstodon.xyz/@vihart@mastodon.social https://mathstodon.xyz/@vihart@mastodon.social) Greg Egan (https://mathstodon.xyz/@gregeganSF https://mathstodon.xyz/@gregeganSF) Katie Steckles (https://mathstodon.xyz/@stecks https://mathstodon.xyz/@stecks) Marcus du Sautoy (https://mathstodon.xyz/@MarcusduSautoy https://mathstodon.xyz/@MarcusduSautoy) Eugenia Cheng (https://mathstodon.xyz/@DrEugeniaCheng https://mathstodon.xyz/@DrEugeniaCheng) Terry Tao (https://mathstodon.xyz/@tao https://mathstodon.xyz/@tao) Tim Gowers (https://mathstodon.xyz/@wtgowers https://mathstodon.xyz/@wtgowers) Matt Parker (https://mathstodon.xyz/@standupmaths https://mathstodon.xyz/@standupmaths) (Me) (https://mathstodon.xyz/@OscarCunningham https://mathstodon.xyz/@OscarCunningham)

Tomte 4y ago

Richard McElreath of Statistical Rethinking: @rlmcelreath@nerdculture.de

waynesutton 4y ago

There's an Observable notebook on this topic too who-to-follow-on-mastodon https://observablehq.com/@mauforonda/who-to-follow-on-mastodon?collection=@observablehq/mastodon-visualizations https://observablehq.com/@mauforonda/who-to-follow-on-mastod...

bhoops 4y ago

For folks from India, these are some random India specific accounts which toot frequently: @tendstofortytwo@tech.lgbt @rashi@mas.to @chenthil@mastodon.social @sridala@mastodon.social @anniezaidi@mastodon.social @sharanyamanivannan@mastodon.social @vaditi@india.goonj.xyz @Calamur@mastodon.social @nixxin@mstdn.social @rahulbhatia@mastodon.social @nilanjanaroy@mastodon.social @hackiechan@mastodon.social @nikita32@india.goonj.xyz

thebiglebrewski 4y ago

Has anyone written a Chrome extension yet to take the username/server combinations of the top posted names and make them easy to click links? Like I can't click: "Rob Carlson (author of "Biology is Technology...") @rob_carlson@mastodon.world"

TaylorAlexander 4y ago
hello I found it for you https://github.com/masrly/mastodon-link https://github.com/masrly/mastodon-link
- thebiglebrewski 4y ago
  Thank you so much! I found it initially didn't work but once I put in my instance in the extension settings, it worked great. Awesome find.

SecurityMinded 4y ago

Absolutely nobody. I refuse to play in some capricious individual's walled garden. After Elon's acquisition, twitter became good enough for me.

kgwxd 4y ago
But... Nevermind.

goldforever 4y ago

[dead]

t0bia_s 4y ago

Nobody. I'm not interested in social media at all.

themusicgod1 4y ago

https://shitposter.club/users/nousnaut https://shitposter.club/users/nousnaut / @nousnaut@shitposter.club

anotherevan 4y ago

https://mastodon.social/@PragmaticAndy https://mastodon.social/@PragmaticAndy - Andy Hunt, co-author of The Pragmatic Programmer among other endeavours. Also tends to boost interesting or funny stuff. https://mastodon.social/@jonoxer https://mastodon.social/@jonoxer - Jon is an awesome bloke in Melbourne, Australia who is really in to electronics and home automation. https://theblower.au/@cathywilcox https://theblower.au/@cathywilcox - Australian political cartoonist. If you followed on Twitter, follow here instead. https://blackrock.city/@spolsky https://blackrock.city/@spolsky - Joel Spolsky. If you followed on Twitter, follow here instead. https://mastodon.matrix.org/@matrix https://mastodon.matrix.org/@matrix - Matrix, Element, etc. https://mastodon.social/@oatmeal https://mastodon.social/@oatmeal - Because he is a funny bugger.